Fight the Real Enemy - Package bombs prove that al-Qaida isn't our most serious security challenge.

Fight the Real Enemy - The package bombs prove that al-Qaida isn't our most serious security challenge.

www.slate.com

Now here is the good news: The explosive chemical inserted into the package was PETN, Pentaerythritol tetranitrate. PETN was first synthesized in 1891, was patented in Germany in 1912, and has been used since World War I. PETN has been around for a long time, in other words—and it still isn't that easy for would-be terrorists to manipulate. PETN was the explosive that the shoe bomber, Richard Reid, failed to set off in 2001. PETN was also the explosive that the underwear bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, failed to set off last Christmas. These latest bombs may also have failed: They seem t

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The article talks about focusing more on the challenges of nuclear power in Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan. Radioactive chemicals by Russian agents, also mentioned is the Stuxnet computer worm found in June 2010, according to Wikipedia, it was attacking Iran's Siemens systems apparently it attacked a nuclear plant and delayed the start up of one nuclear plant.

It also talks about cyber attacks originating from Russia or China, with there targets being the United States and Europe.

How significant do you feel is the Yemen and al-Qaida in general at the moment?

www.slate.com
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How significant is Yemen?

Well I read then title and thought this would be something good... focusing on the areas the media leaves ignored like the recent spat of Greek letter bombs, with the most recent exploding in the Russian/Swiss embassies in Greece, or the recent spat of letter bombs aimed at European leaders like the German Chancellor and the French President.

Linky

There is certainly an undercurrent running through Europe that the media is trying to play down while hyping up the AQ threat, in fact it appears the media is trying to hype up all the imagined threats possible while ignoring the real ones..

A failed underwear bomber burning his nadgers is more interesting to the media than a bomb exploding in an embassy in retaliation for the recent round of cuts, kinda leaves me feeling rather puzzled as to what is really happening.

Now my opinion is that given that we are at the start of the real pain of paying down the debt we are all in, and if this is the type of action already being taken by some, then what will happen in 6 or 12 months time as the pain is felt more across society as a whole, and how far will the current bombing campaigns really go.

And since this type of action spreads like a contagion, I worry more about where that is going than about Yemen, Iran or North Korea.